New Delhi: Sources say the government has ordered a "full-scale" inquiry into recent allegations of phone-tapping of politicians.
Government sources also say that the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), alleged to have intercepted phone calls, was not authorised by the government to cross the line, so to speak. The NTRO, which is the government's technical intelligence gathering agency, reports to the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office.
Last week, in the midst of a scathing attack in Parliament, Home Minister P Chidambaram said he had discussed with the PM the need to have the NTRO report to a minister accountable to Parliament.
A series of media reports, the first by Outlook, said the NTRO had tapped the phones of Sharad Pawar, Digvijay Singh, Nitish Kumar, and Prakash Karat.
Last week, the Opposition also brought up in Parliament the issues raised by a report in the Pioneer, which alleged that the phone of the woman who heads one of India's largest public relations companies was tapped while she lobbied for her corporate clients to be awarded 2G spectrum licenses in 2008. Chidambaram had said that he could not comment on whether the article was correct.
Earlier, the BJP's Arun Jaitley had argued that mere suspicion of tax evasion cannot be equated with 'public safety' and 'public emergency' - the only two situations which allow the government to intercept messages.
Government sources also say that the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), alleged to have intercepted phone calls, was not authorised by the government to cross the line, so to speak. The NTRO, which is the government's technical intelligence gathering agency, reports to the National Security Advisor in the Prime Minister's Office.
Last week, in the midst of a scathing attack in Parliament, Home Minister P Chidambaram said he had discussed with the PM the need to have the NTRO report to a minister accountable to Parliament.
A series of media reports, the first by Outlook, said the NTRO had tapped the phones of Sharad Pawar, Digvijay Singh, Nitish Kumar, and Prakash Karat.
Advertisement
Last week, the Opposition also brought up in Parliament the issues raised by a report in the Pioneer, which alleged that the phone of the woman who heads one of India's largest public relations companies was tapped while she lobbied for her corporate clients to be awarded 2G spectrum licenses in 2008. Chidambaram had said that he could not comment on whether the article was correct.
Advertisement
Earlier, the BJP's Arun Jaitley had argued that mere suspicion of tax evasion cannot be equated with 'public safety' and 'public emergency' - the only two situations which allow the government to intercept messages.
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Centre Issues Advisory On Microsoft Windows Outage Government Schools To Enroll Class 9 Repeaters In NIOS For 2024-25 Session UK's New Government Vows To Remove 92 Unelected Peers From Upper House Israeli Jets Strike Yemen Rebels After Deadly Attack On Tel Aviv Woman On Scooter With 2 Kids Punched, Left Bleeding In Pune Road Rage Case After Retest, Haryana NEET Centre With Most Top Scorers Gave This Result... Imran Khan Being Kept In Filthy Circumstances In Jail, Says His Wife: Report 7 Bombs Defused In Imphal East District By Joint Army, Police Team 3.5-Magnitude Earthquake Hits Jammu And Kashmir Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.